LA Times to be sold to biotech billionaire

LOS ANGELES:- The Los Angeles Times is being sold to billionaire physician and investor Patrick Soon-Shiong in a move aimed at reviving the fortunes of the newspaper amid recent turmoil, the publisher announced Wednesday. Publishing group Tronc Inc. said it reached a deal to sell the LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune to Soon-Shiong's Nant Capital for $500 million plus the assumption of $90 million in pension liabilities. The move comes after months of newsroom unrest at the storied Los Angeles daily that has seen three editors in the past six months, and a vote to unionize the journalists.–AFP

"We are pleased to transition leadership of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune to local ownership, and we are certain that the journalistic excellence in Southern California will continue long into the future," said Justin Dearborn, chief executive of Tronc, the name adopted for the group previously known as Tribune Publishing.